Could It Have Been Different?
by MystikIce
Summary: Bankotsu always depended on killing to survive. Although he knows this, he comes across a girl who thinks differently. Would she make enough of an impact on him that he wouldn't end up killing her or is she going to be like the rest? OC
1. Prologue: Inochi

**Could it Have Been Different?**

**Prologue**: Inochi

A/n** Heheh…. Um… no… this OC is not my Mary-sue, nor do I think she's close to being my M-S (she's too tall.. not really. Just 5'3"… HEY!! DON'T MAKE FUN OF ME JUST CAUSE I'M SHORT!!... ER-ANYWAYS.… and she's pretty, and smart. And if you were wondering I don't own InuYasha (the show) nor Bankotsu. Yeah. 

"Are you finished fighting me?" Bankotsu asked. He grabbed InuYasha's neck and pulled him off his feet. He then punched him in his stomach causing InuYasha to fall.  "Heh! Really? You make me too disappointed! I thought you were a worthy opponent!" InuYasha felt Bankotsu grab his Kimono collar. "Don't worry InuYasha. I'm not interested in afflicting the weak. No. I'm not interested in that." 

_"Bankotsu."_

He frowned at that memory. Where had that come from? He shook his head and looked back at InuYasha. 

"Go to Hell," he tried to pierce Inu-Yasha but it ended up to be the exact opposite. InuYasha _had_ pierced _him_. His fingers were stuck in his neck but quickly he pulled out his fingers along with three Shikon Shards.

"I'm different from the men you killed. I avoid getting killed by you!"

_No, you aren't. She's the only different one_.

Bankotsu let go of his collar after he thought that. Why were these memories coming back? He was soon pulled out of his trance as InuYasha kicked him causing him to stumble back. 

"I took out five. If I take out the shards in your arms, you'll die Bankotsu," InuYasha told him. Bankotsu looked up at him and got up. 

"I won't die! I'll kill you! I'll get back the Shikon Shards which you have!" He screamed back.

"It's useless. Even if you can run away from here by luck, Naraku won't let you live on because you have his Shikon Shards."

"Doesn't he want you dead?" Bankotsu asked. InuYasha ignored him.

"Look," he said. Youkai were watching their every move. "That's his surveillance. He plans to kill those who are against him." 

"That bastard, Naraku!" Bankotsu sneered. 

"I don't know what you promised Naraku."

Bankotsu remembered that time when Naraku put life into him.

"You're just used as his shield," InuYasha tried to put sense into his head. 

_Was I used as her shield too? No… I wasn't. I remember that I wanted to protect her. I wanted to protect her. Why couldn't I, though?_

'Damn memories! Why were these coming back? It's not like I care about her, still,' he thought.

"Heh! So what?"

"What're you saying?"

"Our Shichinintai were always used as mercenaries by every daimio. But we were too powerful and dangerous that we were hunted down and killed. I don't believe Naraku but since I can back to life I can manage my own life now," he implied, "If anyone gets in my way, even if it's Naraku, I'll kill him."

"_Bankotsu-kun! Please stay with me."_

"Are you sure? Naraku comes back to life every time!" 

"Ha! Then why don't you come to your sense from your revival from the seal? You don't understand. Humans have the appetence. You too.  That miko came back to life and so did you. It's all because you have the appetence to live on. Don't think that we're all like this," Bankotsu explained. 

"But you're the murderer!" 

"Yea! I've killed many youkai," he said as he grabbed his Banryuu. He looked into InuYasha's eyes and saw fear. He was probably thinking that he would kill him. He then ran for his tessaiga. Bankotsu ran past him making InuYasha shocked.

"Heh," he smirked. He ran ahead and swung his Banryuu. "991! 992! 993!"

"What're you doing?!" InuYasha asked.

"994! 995! 996! 997! 998! 999!" He screamed as he killed one more. "ONE THOUSAND! Heh, we don't need you!" he noticed the Banryuu was glowing hatred. Using this advantage, he swung the hatred to InuYasha. He blocked it, but it bounced off killing all the other Youkai.

"If you want to get away from here, I'll let you."

"Then I'll kill you to avenge for my brother's death!" Bankotsu yelled.

"Keh! The swords only changed a little," InuYasha said. 

"I've prepared my last work to kill you. I didn't want to kill you."

"Then what's the matter?" the dog hanyou asked. Bankotsu jumped up with his sword and brought it down to the Tessaiga. InuYasha blocked it quickly and threw him back.

_"Are you still here Banko-kun? Hehe! I knew you wouldn't leave!" A girl smiled and giggled. _

"Is that so?" he bit. He lunged down to InuYasha but he jumped back. Bankotsu started to run towards him. "When I met Naraku before, he told me that story about the Shikon Shards. It can endow strength to youkai and humans. Humans have no black magic and super natural powers aren't good for me. It's not inherent." He threw InuYasha to the wall and continued talking, "I thought 'if I want to get strong, I'll make myself get strong' but there's another way. It's to check the strength of the enemy, so I made a vow to Banryuu to kill more than one thousand warriors." He shut his mouth and watched InuYasha get up from the blow to the wall. He breathed heavily and held out his Tessaiga. 

"Kaze no Kizu!"

"But I've also killed more than one thousand youkai!" he yelled as he cut off InuYasha's attack. 

"Wha—My Kaze no Kizu!" Despite InuYasha's small complaint, Bankotsu kept on talking. 

"I realized its desire. There are 4 Shikon Shards in my Banryuu. One thousand people. One thousand youkai. This evil sword absorbed two thousand hates! Your sword is evil too, but now, could you win against the Banryuu!?" He aimed for his opponent but InuYasha dodged his attack. 

"Don't be silly! Demons won't know. Perhaps you will hanyou. This is Jungle Period! IT'S OVER!" Bankotsu yelled as he swung the Banryuu in his hand creating energy of hate. 

"Evil influence," InuYasha whispered to himself.

"I won't go down to anyone!" he yelled as he threw the hate to the half dog youkai.

"Bankotsu has no evil influence! But if the Banryuu influences evil, he'll use a Bakuryuu," he told himself.  He created the energy to do one himself, "Bakuryuu!" as he threw the wind energy to Bankotsu.

"What?" he asked surprised. The Bakuryuu cracked the Banryuu and broke it, hitting Bankotsu. "NO!"

InuYasha breathed heavily as he stared at Bankotsu under the boulders.

"Why?" he asked. He wasn't sad about it. 

"You're too greedy, Bankotsu. But you're very strong," InuYasha explained.

"Heheheh," he laughed.  He passed out but soon found himself dreaming of the past. 

A/N** Short, yeah? I know. The next one is gonna be longer. I dunno if it's gonna be a lot or a little. Depends on you. The chapter title Inochi means Memories.  Yeah. If you don't understand the memories part, you'll get it in the next few chapters. Hope you enjoyed the story and enjoy in the next few chapters… yeah.


	2. Apples and Fruits and Introductions

**Chapter 1: **Apples and Fruits and Introductions

            A/N** ok!! Time for real fluff!!!! YEAH! Lol… I hope you enjoy this story! Yet again (I say it)… -__- 

            An old man and girl in her teens, age 16, were walking down a road on a warm spring day.  

            "Chichi wa, I'm going down to the field to pick some apples and fruits for the animals. They seem hungry. I'll get some for you too. Just rest here, okay?" she asked suddenly. He looked up at her with his dull eyes.

            "Hai, hai. I've been getting hungry!" he laughed. The girl giggled and left. The old man sat on the rock under a shading tree. "Come back soon!" She nodded and ran down the hill. As her father rested, he wiped the sweat off his eyebrows. 

            "Such a hot day," he mumbled. The man got up and tied the animals to a tree trunk. The sound of a river soon reached his ears after he was done tying his animals. "Ah, water!" He kneeled down and bent over to drink some. 

            "A man! Is he hot like InuYasha?" Jakotsu asked. By his light voice, the man took his head out of the river. He cringed. "Ew! He's old! He doesn't look anything like InuYasha."

            "Jakotsu," Bankotsu called. The cross dresser turned around and looked at him.  

            "What?" he frowned. 

            "Get behind me," he scowled. Jakotsu shrugged and obeyed him. 

            "What're you going to do? Who are you?" the man asked. He noticed that there were only two men. One with handsome features and a long braid while the other man was taller… and dressed in women's clothes. _'Odd…'_ the old man thought.

            "Don't you know who we are? We are the Shichinintai," Bankotsu smiled, "And I'm the leader."  The man backed up to the tree trunk and tried escaping. 

"You shouldn't try running, it'll hurt more!" Bankotsu called out. He ran up to the old man and pushed Banryuu into his stomach. "Heh, let's take all he has. We deserve some better tasting food than the rats we roast." Bankotsu squatted down, checked the pockets and took out the goods and money and counted it.

"That's it? That can't possibly buy the kimono that will make Inu-chan think I'm hot," Jakotsu complained. 

"You're an odd one," Bankotsu muttered to himself. He spoke up, "we can just buy the best wine there is and eat the best food at the best restaurant. Wouldn't that be great, eh?" he looked upwards to his standing brother who seemed to be whispering InuYasha's name over and over again. He sighed and got up, kicked the body into the river and walked off. 

Hours later, they found themselves to be sitting under cherry blossom trees.

"When should we enter the village?" Jakotsu asked.

"Anytime," the leader responded. "If they don't listen, we'll kill them."

"Ah. The same routine, now?"

"Hai," Bankotsu said. He shaded his eyes from the blaring sun with his hand and looked around to see a girl trying to reach for an apple that was too high up for her. He noticed that she was slim with the right curves and with a pretty face. Big eyes, curved lips, high cheek bones, small face to match with her height and a pretty pointed nose. A grin tugged at his lips. Jakotsu noticed this and groaned. 

"You'll end up killing her like all the other girls," he complained. "Why can't we just stick to InuYasha?" Bankotsu stared at him. "What? Eh- never mind. You do what you want to do, I'll be over there," he said while pointing to the village. "InuYasha..." Jakotsu giggled.  

"Hm," Bankotsu sighed and waited for Jakotsu to get out of site. He grinned and walked over to the girl who was still trying to reach for the apple.

"Stupid apple. That's the closest apple to me, too," he heard her mumble. Bankotsu glanced down to the basket and saw that she had only picked two apples. She groaned, "I guess this is what I'll have to use to feed the horses." Suddenly, she saw a boy in his late teens jump up and grab a few apples. 

"Here," he said, handing them to her. 

An 'um' escaped her throat. She tried not to make eye-contact but even that wasn't keeping her from blushing. 

"What's the matter? Didn't you need help?" Bankotsu asked. He stood six inches above her and had to look down. For a second, he caught a glimpse of her eye, but she turned her head away in embarrassment and blushed even redder. 

"No," she replied. "I could've done it myself."

"You're short though."

"No, I'm not"

"Yes, you are."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"You're too stubborn," he mumbled. Maybe talking to her was a bad idea.

"What?" she asked, as if trying to start a fight. He shook his head. Silence went by until she picked up the apples he picked for her and started to walk off.

"OI!" Bankotsu called out after her. He hurried along until they were walking side by side.

"Huh?" she turned to him, holding tight to the basket of apples that rested between her ribs and her arm. "What do you need?" 

"I would like to know something," he stated. She shook her head. "What's your name?"

"Should I give out information to a stranger?" 

"Am I a stranger to you?"

"Yes, you are." 

"Not anymore."

"Yes."

"No- er- My name's Bankotsu, leader of the-" he stopped and she looked back up to him. _'That was close.'_

"Leader of the…farmers? Warriors? Shichinintai?" she trailed off. He gave a surprised look, but it seemed that she took his look as if he were offended. However, Bankotsu wasn't. "Gomen-nasai."

"It's nothing," he said. "Your name?"

"My name?" she repeated the question. He shook his head lightly. "I am Shinri of the Tsukahara house hold. The only child of a farmer and fisher. Do you have any parents?" Bankotsu became silent. He couldn't remember them. Did he kill them too? 

"No, I don't think I do," he told her. She fidgeted. "Hey." She looked up. 

"Huh?"

"Don't worry about it." Bankotsu tried hard to make an impression on her. Shinri smiled and noticed that they were approaching the horses. _'It could be working.'_

"Why do you wear that big armor? Yet you're so strong," she asked after a long silence.

"To protect myself, of course. I won't lose to anyone." He laughed a little as she smiled.

"I believe that too," she told. He looked down at her with a small blush but ignored it. They were soon at the destination. 

"Otou-san?" she called out. A river was heard and she followed the sound, "He probably got thirsty waiting for-" She stopped mid sentenced and stared at her fathers body caught on to a bent over tree branch. Shinri ran over to the river and pulled out his body. Bankotsu stood there, shocked to see that it was her father he just killed on that same day. 

_'Or maybe my impressions won't work...if she found out that was me.'_

The father's body was worse off since he left it floating in the river. From the loss of blood, the skin turned dark, almost black. The stench was strong. One eye was open, as if watching his every move. Since the body was also left in the river, the body was pruned and wrinkly.

A whimper escaped Shinri's lips then transformed into a sob. This quickly turned to mourning and crying with tears pouring out. She laid her head against her father's chest and wept until the sun was setting. Bankotsu only stood and stared. He couldn't really feel bad about it, but he felt that he couldn't lose her. He was so close to holding her, so close to kissing her, so close to loving her. 

Clouds began to form, and even if it was still hot, the air became humid and wet. Soon after, rain started coming down in large drizzles and the river started to rise. The grass under his feet became muddy. He looked back at her. 

"Let's go," Bankotsu urged. He tapped her shoulders. When Shinri looked up, her face and eyes were red. He jumped back a little, but pushed on. "Shinri-san." She shook her head and refused even when he tried to pull her up a little.

"My house is close to here, go ahead and walk there. It's on the main road down east. It's the first house in awhile. Go ahead, I want to bury my father," she stated. He nodded and left.

While Bankotsu was walking down, he met up with Jakotsu.

"Where were you?" Bankotsu asked. Jakotsu shrugged. 

"Looking for some things." 

"Huh, what about that," he mumbled. "The girl said we could stay in her house since it's raining." Jakotsu stared at him.

"We or I?"

"I- but who gives a shit, eh?" Bankotsu and Jakotsu laughed. They only talked here and there, but when they reached the house he ordered his brother to go get meat to eat. "This is the house?" He walked up the steps to the house, and examined it. _'Built quite recently. One room, for eating and sleeping. Not very big, but it'll work for me.'_ He thought as he entered the house. A pit was built a few feet into the ground for cooking and around it were the sleeping mattresses. He started a fire and sat on the ledge. Several hours passed by as he sat around thinking. Bankotsu's stomach started to growl after awhile. He was wondering where Shinri and Jakotsu were until Shinri knocked. 

"Huh?" 

"Bankotsu-sama?"  She called out. He looked at her, and noticed that she didn't bury her father after all. He was on her shoulder. "Heh- this? I've decided something."

"And what did you decide?" Bankotsu asked. She thought for a minute.

"To find a shikon shard and place it in my dad so he becomes alive again!" she smiled. He looked back to the body.

"Uh- where will you put that?" a sweat-drop traveled down his face.

"In the shed- well, it used to be a house but no one's living in there, and it's been abandoned ever since I could remember."

"Then can we eat now?" Bankotsu's eye brow started to twitch. She became afraid from the hate that glowed in his eyes. Her body began to quiver, but trying to hide it, she bowed to not let him see it in her eyes.

"Gomen-nasai, Bankotsu-sama," she stated. Her head remained bowed as he sat there, staring at her. He couldn't get mad at her now. He was so used to her, even if it was for a day, that he didn't want to yell at her either. Trying to calm her, he waved his hands around.

"Nah- it's alright," he accepted her apology. She sighed a 'phew' and smiled.

"I'll be back soon, 'kay?" the leader of his group nodded at her request and let her leave. Shortly after, Jakotsu entered the house with the meat cleaned and de-saturated.

"Now go get some water by the river," he ordered his taller brother, handing him a pot.

"Hai," he said. "But did _that_ girl come back yet?" 

"She left again, she'll be back soon."

"Oh," Jakotsu sighed. He wanted to meet this girl his brother was falling for. "Ja!" Bankotsu nodded and threw the meat down by the fire. As he finished, adding wood to the fire, Shinri walked in again. 

"Eh? What's this?" she asked, peering down into the pit. The fire was in the center, but there was meat in the corner. 

"Got some meat while I was waiting," he said plainly. "Here." Bankotsu grabbed a blanket from one of the mattresses and threw it at her. As she caught it a blush crept on Shinri's face.

"Thank you," she whispered. 

"It's not a big deal. You would've gotten sick anyway. You're dripping in cold rain," Bankotsu stated. She sat by him while rubbing her hair with the blanket. The blanket soon became soggy. She threw the blanket on out on the porch for it to dry and sat back down shivering. 

"Oh- where's my pot?" 

"Ehm-"

"Bankotsu? Why do you make me carry such a heavy thing?" Jakotsu complained as he entered the house. Shinri stared at him. Minutes of silence ticked away. She observed his clothes. A man… in women's clothing… And the kimono was so _pretty_ too. … Hm… a stranger… in her house… which could only mean-

"YOU'RE ONLY HERE TO SEDUCE BANKOTSU-SAMA AREN'T YOU!? AREN'T YOU!??!!?" Shinri screamed as she threw a bowl to his head. Jakotsu stumbled back a little while Bankotsu tried to interrupt.

"Shin-"

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, YOU PERVERT!!! I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING, BUT IT'S PROBABALY SOMETHING WEIRD!" She kept on screaming. 

"You little-" he stopped mid-sentence as he pulled out his Jakotsutou and tried to strike at her with it, but Bankotsu grabbed his wrist. 

"Bankotsu-sama?" she called out in a question.

"Shinri-san… this is my brother, Jakotsu. I don't think he wants to seduce me because of that. I don't even think he wants to seduce me," Bankotsu explained calmly as he forced Jakotsu to put his sword back. The girl looked down at her feet and blushed.

"Eh? Gomen," she apologized and pouted. 

"No! It's alright, people think that all the time!" he smiled as she looked up and placed a hand on one of her shoulder. Shinri sighed a relieved one and smiled back at him. 

"No they don-" Jakotsu began. "Mmmph!" With one hand on Shinri's shoulder, he took the other hand and reached back to cover Jakotsu's mouth. 

"Just ignore him," he whispered into her ear. As he let go, Jakotsu seemed to have calmed down.

"Ah, gomen-nasai Jakotsu-sama. Watashi wa Shinri. Pleased to meet you," she whispered in embarrassment. 

"Hey, no problem. Ahahaha- You're his girlfriend right? Welcome to the team!" He introduced himself.

"Not his girlfriend, Jakotsu-sama," she blushed. Later on, after that incident, Shinri cooked and let them eat.

After several days the rain was still beating down hard since Bankotsu and Shinri met and every time she came back, he would always warm her not to get sick, even if he didn't do anything. One day of just lounging, farming and selling produce, Shinri came back with wet food.

"What would you like to eat, Bankotsu-sama? It's not very good because it's wet but-" 

"It's fine," Bankotsu told her, looking through the door. 

"Would you like some water?" Shinri asked. Jakotsu observed them talking together. 

"Huh? Yeah, water's fine," he told her. He watched her shuffle around getting a cup and pouring water into it. She handed it to him and giggled to his blush. He wasn't really used to girls serving him.

"Oi! Shinri-San, don't you like him? You serve him too much. Bankotsu, you're too spoiled. Is she your wife now?" Jakotsu asked. 

"EH? No! Not at all! I'm only 16! That's too young!" She confessed.

"Yea, yea but you know it's so hard for him to find a girlfriend because he ends up killing them," Jakotsu winked at her. Shinri looked up at both of them and stepped away from them.

"Killing all your girlfriends?" she cocked her head and frowned. 

"No! He's just joking with you," Bankotsu tried to calm her down. 

"You mean she doesn't know that we're the Shichinin-"

"Jakotsu!" Bankotsu clenched his teeth together.

"Shichinintai?" Shinri finished. "You mean you're all murderers?" She frowned again and looked at Bankotsu. 

"Don't worry! We won't kill you," Jakotsu assured. Her heart skipped a few beats and felt heavier. This man, Bankotsu, she beginning to love, was a villain of the good?

"No—I-I'm not worried about that…" her voice trembled. 

"Oh? Then what is it?" a man stepped in, bald but he had a cloth tied over it. Shinri looked over to the door where he was, "Oh, I'm Renkotsu, part of the Shichinintai." Bankotsu and Jakotsu looked over too. 

"You're wet," Jakotsu stated. He turned back to Shinri, "I told him that we were staying here."

"I was out in the village," he told.

"For what?" Bankotsu asked.

"To-" 

"No! Don't change the subject!" Shinri shouted from the corner. They all turned her attention towards her. 

_'Saved by a mere girl. Can't tell them I was out looking for Shikon Shards. Though it looks like Bankotsu's enjoying her company.'_ Renkotsu thought.

"What?" Bankotsu asked. She looked him in the eye.

"Did you kill my father, then? Is that why you didn't offer any help and just stood there?" Shinri's fist were tightening up.

"It's part of our daily routine," Renkotsu said. "It's nothing. When you die, you'll see him in heaven right?" Shinri ignored him and kept her gaze into Bankotsu's eye. 

"Well?"

"Yes. Shinri-"

"Bankotsu. I was just starting to trust you, even if we only knew each other for a few days," she looked back down to her feet. "Why would you do that?" 

"But-"

"No buts- ands or ifs. I want you out of this house, now!" she stated. She bent down to the pit of fire, picked up the meat and threw it at Bankotsu. "Take that with you too." 

"Shinri…" Bankotsu called out her name. But she only watched him go out the door. 

A/N** No… that's not the end. There will be more... If you guys want more. I mean... yea… 


	3. Hot Springs, Apologies and Rice

**Chapter Two**: Hot Springs, Apologies and Rice

A/n Ehm... maybe that wasn't real fluff…oh well... lol… hope you guys like this chapter!

* * *

Shinri put out the fire after Bankotsu left. She sat down, rested her cheek against her knee and wrapped her arms around her legs. Tears were beckoned by the emotion she was feeling but she cried too many times. With out a second thought, she crawled over to her bed and fell asleep. 

For the next few days, she cleaned the house and went out to the field to tend it. She fed the animals and worked in the rice field. Somehow Bankotsu kept popping into her memories.

_'What if I didn't yell at him? What would've happened to us? Does it matter if he did kill my dad? After all, I am reviving my dad,'_ she thought. _'But he was the one who killed him. Without Shikon Shards he would be 6 feet under right now. Damn it, Bankotsu. How did I find myself falling for you so quickly?'_

"Shinri-San?" a voiced called for her. She turned around to see Renkotsu.

"Yes?" she growled under her breath.

"Are you sure you don't want to see Bankotsu once more?" he asked. Her eyebrows twitched.

"Why would I want to see him? He'll probably kill me," she retorted.

"Where'd you hear that?"

"Jakotsu said that he killed all his girlfriends," she mumbled.

"That's true but-"

"Yeah, so he might kill me. We wouldn't want that would we?" She muttered. Renkotsu stared at her for awhile as she worked and walked off.

Hours passed by until the sun set. After she was leading the oxen back to the barn, she got out a clean set of clothes so she could bathe. Shinri took her clothes off and entered the small pool.

The steam helped clear her mind but thoughts of Bankotsu cluttered her mind. And after all those thoughts the steam didn't help the large headache from crying and thinking too much.

"Why did I yell at him?" she asked herself. She dunked under water to wash the dirt out of her hair, when she risen again, Jakotsu was standing by the hot spring. "Eh?"

"Oi, Shi-san," he smiled.

He quickly stripped off his clothes and jumped in.

"Ah! The waters so warm," he smiled. Shinri's eye became wide as she crossed her arms over her chest and blushed until her whole face was red. "Huh? What's wrong? We both like the same kind of people right?"

"I- -I do-don't-k-know!" she screamed, shutting her eyes. He moved closer and put his arm around her shoulder. He stuck out a fist in front of her face.

"See? We do like the same kind of guys! We like smart guys, hot guys and strong guys! InuYasha is all of that. He's so hot," he told her while using his fist and fingers to count. He looked at her. Shinri was shivering under his arm. "Don't you think that too?"

"Just stay away from me!" She yelled. She put her arm against his arm and pushed him away.

"Nani? Don't you, though? Bankotsu is very hot. I bet you think that," he said. Shinri turned her back onto him while blushing. "You aren't answering me? I'll change your mind for you. Let me do a free back wash for you, eh?"

He took a cloth and wet it. Shinri was ignoring him, trying to think of a plan to run out while not letting him see any of her. When she felt hands touch her back, she realized what just happened.

"Doesn't that feel cool? Tell me; don't you think he's hot?" Jakotsu looked at her again. She was shivering and her eyes were once again shut tight. He shrugged and continued washing her back for a few minutes until she moved away from him.

Shinri screamed as loud as she could.

"GET AWAY FROM ME, PERVERT!!!!! HENTAI!!!! WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO GET FROM ME!? HUH--"

Meanwhile, Renkotsu, Ginkotsu and Bankotsu were setting camp up in the forest. Only Jakotsu had seen Shinri walk to the hot springs so he departed them, telling them that he wanted to take a bath.

"Do you think you'll see her again?" Renkotsu asked.

"Huh? No, she doesn't want to see me again, remember?" he trailed off as he ate some rice. Just right after that they heard a scream. It was coming from the direction Jakotsu was at. He jumped up and ran towards him.

"Jakotsu-" Bankotsu trailed off as he saw Shinri in the hot springs. They made eye contact until she turned away and went to the opposite end, both their faces clearly red.

"Stay away from me, Bankotsu-sama," She stated with her back to him, "I don't know what your brothers were doing, trying to convince me to like you again."

_'My head feels like it's gonna explode. Everything's spinning,'_ she ignored the warnings of fainting and continued talking. _"Man.. this hotspring really is hot..."_

_'Again? So she did like me?'_ Bankotsu blushed even , bowing his head to hide it.

"What were you guys trying to do?" he asked, looking at Renkotsu and down at Jakotsu in the spring's pool. They turned their heads away.

"Hey… Just stay away from me ok?" She whispered. Bankotsu heard every word as her vision became blurry. She sank into the shallow waters. Her name was the last thing she heard.

"Shinri!" Bankotsu yelled while jumping in the hot spring waters. He walked towards her as fast as he could and picked up her body. Her arms were still over her chest and the second half of her body was under water. "Renkotsu! Give me her clothes!" Renkotsu nodded and threw her clothes at him. Not wanting to embarrass her, he just opened the skirt and wrapped it around her in a form of a towel to cover everything from her chest to her thighs. Bankotsu jumped out of the water and walked towards their camp site.

As he laid her by the fire, he took a blanket from somebody they killed and covered her with it. He thought it over.

"Maybe I shouldn't use this blanket," he mumbled. Bankotsu switched blankets from the murdered man's blanket to his blanket, "This blanket might stink like me, but she'll get used to it." After he comforted her his brother's voice reached into his ear.

"Eh? Already kidnapping her?" Jakotsu asked. He straightened out his collar on his kimono. Bankotsu shook his head.

"No, just sleep. I'll watch out tonight," he stated as he sat with his back against a tree that was closest to Shinri. He sat cross legged as Renkotsu put the fire. Everyone laid on the ground with their own blankets while he just sat.

Bankotsu reached over to Shinri and moved her hair out of her face. He noticed her forehead was hot. She squirmed a little, making him pull his hand back. After calming down, he just watched her. He didn't know that Jakotsu was watching him. The odd brother just smiled and rested his head down on the grass, continuing his night by sleeping.

_'What the hell? How come I'm having these emotions? I've only known her for a few days,'_ he thought as he rested his eyes on her. His eyes kept their gaze on her face until the sun began rising. Realizing that Shinri fainted in the hot springs because of the heat of the hotspring and the lack of food she had since they met, he got up to cook soup.

"Renkotsu," he whispered. "Start a fire and boil some water in this pot. We're gonna eat." Renkotsu groaned and blew fire into the fire place, walked over to the river to get water, came back and rested his head back down.

Bankotsu went to the closest farm, got a sac full of roasted rice and walked back. Of course he paid for it with Shinri's dad's money but somehow he couldn't really forgive himself for doing that. He shrugged it off as he approached the camp site. Glad as he was, Shinri was still sleeping and the water was ready for the rice.

"Ah, Bankotsu, you stole some rice?" Jakotsu asked from under the blanket.

"No, not this time. I bought it."

"That's a change."

"Yea, a change," Bankotsu said as he poured the bag of rice in the pot they were cooking in. "What'd you do to Shinri last night anyway?"

"Nothing, she just screamed when I joined her," he shrugged.

"You don't do that to girls, Jakotsu," Bankotsu said as he got up with a wash cloth. Jakotsu shrugged. "Can you cook this?" He asked to Jakotsu. He nodded.

"Going to take a bath?" he asked.

"No, already did," Bankotsu answered. "Getting hot water for her." He walked off as Jakotsu sat up and yawned.

"InuYasha, every moment, I prepare myself for you. Get ready," he said to himself, smiling.

The leader of the Shichinintai soaked the cloth in the hot spring and ran back, making sure it stayed hot in his hands. He came back panting a little but recovered and kneeled by her head, crossed his legs and left the cloth on Shinri's forehead. Jakotsu fiddled with his makeup and watched his brother's every move with a smirk. He knew it. He _knew_ it... his brother _did_ like the girl. Bankotsu usually never cared for his girlfriends at all. He rubbed around the eye shadow and mixed it with the other colors to see which would be best until he realized that there was **very **little makeup left.

"No more? I guess I'll have to buy some more then. Today, I'll just leave my face blank with no make-up. InuYasha won't be very impressed with me," Jakotsu muttered and frowned. "Oh, Renkotsu and Ginkotsu went out," he told. His brother nodded. With every second, Jakotsu watched Bankotsu stare at Shinri. He continued with a question, "You do like her, huh?"

"No," he lied. A blush covered his face. He converted his eyes to the rice.

"You're lying," he said, "You didn't kill her yet. You usually kill or hurt your other girlfriends after a day or after a few hours. Yesterday and the day before were five days, today's the sixth, almost a week, and I'm sure you're going to keep her alive, at least for a while. And when your girlfriends got sick, you wouldn't help them. Or if they fainted, you wouldn't bother helping them out of the-"

"Jakotsu," Bankotsu called out. "I'm not lying." Right then and there, his blush covered his whole face, but he couldn't show Jakotsu. He turned his back to him and let his head down. Jakotsu put down his make-up and crawled over. While Bankotsu tried to turn his head quickly, Jakotsu caught a glimpse of his red face.

"Eh? What's this?" Jakotsu teased. "Do you love her?"

"After almost a week, how could I!?" Bankotsu decided to cover his embarrassment with anger.

"You shouldn't do that Bankotsu. It's bad for your health," Jakotsu waved his finger at him.

"Do you want to eat?! Cause if you keep acting like that then you'll be starving!" Bankotsu threatened and screamed at the same time. Jakotsu pouted.

"That's not very nice."

"Then quit teasing me! I don't-"

"Bankotsu?" a voice groaned.

_'The smell of the blanket is familiar. I like it,'_ Shinri thought. They both looked down at her rubbing her eyes. "Where am I?" She asked as she observed the forest she was in. She tried to stand up as she leaned against a tree.

"You got a fever," Jakotsu smiled.

"Huh? Oh- You're a… weird man," she trailed off as she almost fell. Bankotsu rushed up to catch her. She looked up to his face. "I told you to stay away from me." Shinri coughed and kneeled down.

"That wasn't an option. You were about to die in the hot springs," Bankotsu said. She nodded. Everything was still spinning and he legs were wobbling.

"Why is it so cold?" She shivered. As she rubbed her arms for warmth, she felt that her arms were bare. "Huh?" Shinri looked down and saw that her bottom garment of clothes was used as a towel. She then blushed covering her cleavage. Then a set of clothes were thrown at her face.

"Change over there," Bankotsu stated. She nodded and hurried behind the tree to change. "Oi, Shinri-san?"

"Hai, Bankotsu-kun!" she asked, blushing from behind the tree. _'This is weird... why is he helping me? EEK! Did he see me naked in the hot spring? What happened? I'm so confused...'_

"Shinri-san!" Bankotsu called again. "The rice is ready. Do you want some?"

"Hai," she slightly smiled as she walked out from behind the tree adjusting her.

"There're no chopsticks, just use your hands, okay?" Bankotsu told her. She nodded as he served her a bowl of rice and watched her eat it quickly. He smiled at this and shook his head. What was he doing? He couldn't smile. It would be weird if he did it out of… watching a farmer's daughter eat? The more he thought about what she actually was to him, the more he became confused.

"Thank you. This is good rice. Who cooked it?" she bowed.

"Jakotsu," he looked away as he pointed to his brother. Jakotsu waved at her and smiled as she thanked him for the food. Bankotsu suddenly realized that he was jealous of his brother. Why though? _'Because he could cook,' _he thought to himself. Then a thought of teaching himself how to cook was coming to his mind.

"May I have more, please?"

"Er… Hai," he said, as he served more. She smiled and ate some more. After a while, they waited for Ginkotsu and Renkotsu to come back. It was well past noon when they came back and they all chose to go back to Shinri's house.

"Bankotsu?" Shinri asked while they were walking. She and Bakotsu were standing next to each other, while Jakotsu and Renkotsu were sitting on Ginkotsu. Suddenly Jakotsu looked up to watch.

"Hm?"

"I've decided, that I don't want to be angry with you anymore," she smiled.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Because, I said I would revive my dad with Shikon Shards right? So if I do, it wouldn't make a difference," Shinri stated. He looked at her, shocked.

"What if you don't find a shikon shard?" he asked. She pondered for a bit then looked up at him.

"Then, it still wouldn't matter. Renkotsu said that when I'll die, I'll see him in heaven. That would be good enough," Shinri laughed and smiled. "I promise not to get mad at you anymore. Even if you kill me." She said as she pointed to herself.

"Huh? What a strange girl," Renkotsu said to Jakotsu.

"And brave too," Jakotsu responded.

"C'mon Banko-kun! We're almost there!"

"Banko-kun? Don't call me that," he told her. She just smiled. Shinri grabbed Bankotsu's hand and ran towards her home. When she entered her home, she found her aunt, uncle and cousin there.

"Where have you been all night? Don't tell me you were working in the field, you weren't! You liar," her aunt spat out.

"But, I didn't say-"

"Quiet, Shinri!" her uncle bellowed.

"Hai," she nodded. Shinri started to squeeze Bankotsu's hand.   
  
_'Ow... Ow... Ow... why is she squeezing my hand so hard?'_ Bankotsu thought. As Jakotsu walked in, and looked at them, they all stared at him in his kimono.

"I know where you've been," her aunt continued. "You've been fooling around with these boys, huh?"

"No, I haven't auntie," Shinri bowed her head, "Please tell me, why you're here."

"Do we have to tell you?!" she demanded an answer.

"No, auntie," she whispered.

"Good," her aunt grinned. "But, have you been spending nights with these boys? Probably for money?"

"No! They saved me from drowning. Please don't yell, auntie," she whispered.

"You lie too much," her aunt frowned. "You don't deserve this house or this farm. It was good that your father died. Now we can claim it. So why didn't you notify us, telling us that your dad died huh?"

"Because I'm using a Shikon Shard to revive him," she told them. Her head still in a bow.

"Idiot! You say that, but will you do it?"

"Of course! You wouldn't have to-"

"Have to worry about you? Who said we did or would? We came here to claim the house," her aunt continued. "And exactly how are you going to find Shikon Shards? You're so weak. You probably won't go out to find it. If you start tonight, you'll die tomorrow morning."

"We'll help her," Bankotsu interrupted. His eyes were glowing with hatred for them.

"Stay out of this, commoner. You shouldn't interfere with us 1st class people," her uncle told him. The cousin snickered.

"Do you want to wash your ne-" Bankotsu stopped when Shinri squeezed his hand even harder. _'Itai!!!'_ She looked at him from under her hair, with eyes pleading him not to kill. He nodded.

"Eh?" Jakotsu noticed that their hands were still linked.

"You bitch," her aunt called her. The aunt and uncle glared at her.

"You think because you have them, that you sleep with them, you think that they'll protect you?" she scolded Shinri. She only looked down though. "They're nothing but commoners who know nothing!"

"Please don't say that," Shinri began, lifting her head up. "They're good, kind people. They didn't sleep with me. Even if I wanted them to, they won't let me lose my dignity, so please don't blame them."

Bankotsu stepped back to her words. Good? Kind? She actually thought they were people? Usually others would call them monsters.

"Hah! You lie again? Like I said before, you're nothing. Remember when you're mom died?" she retorted. Shinri nodded as tears came to her eyes. At her mother's funeral, her dad was off selling her goods for food and she was left at her aunts. She was abused everyday and they worked her like a dog. When her dad came to get her, which was the best day of her life, she cried tears of happiness. She was only seven years old.

"Auntie, please," Shinri called out.

"Humph!" Her aunt ignored her. "Let go of his hand and look up to me." Shinri did as she was told and automatically her aunt back-hand slapped her.

"Ah!" Shinri screamed out as she fell to the ground.

"Shinri-San!" Bankotsu yelled out. He kneeled down to her and helped her get up.

"Hm, you didn't have to do that," Jakotsu glared. He reached back for the sword.

"No!" Shinri said, as she blocked his view of them.

"Huh!"

"Don't kill them! They're good people too!"

"But-"

"It doesn't matter, just don't kill them…" she looked down and turned around.

"Huh? Stupid girl, don't say that!" her aunt yelled as she walked past. Shinri kneeled down to them. Her cousin looked out from the corner of his eye and kicked her. "We already buried him, so don't try looking. Bye for now. When we come back, we expect you to leave. We'll back here in three days for this house and the field. Don't forget to leave the oxen and horses and your kimonos too. Now's a good time to leave." She nodded.

Shinri ran out the door and bowed again.

"Thank you for your visit!"

"Humph!" the cousin snarled as they all walked away. Shinri shrugged.

"I'll start packing then," she suggested. She took out her nice kimonos, folded them and left them in the corner for her aunt. They were the same size, so she took advantage of Shinri. After packing what she little else she had, She stuck it in her sac and tied it around her shoulders. "I'll just go now. I don't want to bother you so I'll just go off and try to make living somewhere. That's fine, right?"

"Shinri-San," Bankotsu called out in a sympathetic voice, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine," she told him through the tears that slid down her cheeks. Shinri was lying, he knew it, and she knew that, everyone else figured that out, so why would she lie? Bankotsu and Jakotsu watched her step down the stairs of her porch. She walked passed Renkotsu and Ginkotsu but after a few more steps past them she stop in mid- step. With a turn, she waved and said, "I guess I'll see you around. Ja ne!"

Bankotsu couldn't allow this. He stared at with disbelief as she continued down the main road, seeing that she was confused, knowing that she didn't have anywhere else to go. This was too much to watch. After all the trouble he went through just to stay by her side he wouldn't let her slip out of his grasp. Not this time. Not again. He jumped over to her and pulled on her arm, which made her turn around.

"Huh?"

"Oi! Who said you were going anywhere?"

A/N WHOA! That took the whole day to write! I was sitting on my ass for 8 freaking hours!! Whoa! ... i have no life...LOL. Anyways... did you enjoy it? I hope so! :D Sorry for updating so late!!! I'll continue soon. And if you come across the word 'pot' in my story, it's not Kikyo(no offense to Kikyo fans). CoughcoughKaori-chancoughcough.

Oh Yeah! You better read her bomb-ass InuKag Stories too: Joy-Chan!! (-look that up on the search engine)! And there's another author who really great at writing stories if you like Yu Yu Hakusho, then she writes those too… Orrie!! (Look that pen name up too! Uh—don't add the exclamation points for both their names.) teehee, don't take it personally if you're not in here... Since my very first FF... they've been there for me... teehheee...  
  
ANYWAY!!! TIME FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF THIS A/N!!... i wanna thank Orrie, ShameruMizunori, Joy-Chan and Corrina!! YAY!! THANKS!! I LOVE YOU!!


	4. Shelter, Walks and Cherry Blossom

**Chapter Three**: Shelter, Walks and Cherry Blossom

A/N did you like the story? So far? Gar- Yeah. Uhhh… Hope you'll like it again. Gee- I need to say something else… and… ahhhh... how was your guy's day? :D Anyways... I'd like to give really big kissies to the people who stood up for me.. adn those you read and also those whoreviewed... :D THANK YOU SO MUCH! i wouldn't have gotten this far with out you guys.. :D KISSMUAHKISS.. lol...

* * *

"No, I can't stay," Shinri told insisted. He shook his head.

"Yes, you can."

"No- I'm telling you I can't-"

"Yes you can."

"You don't understand. She has power over me. If I don't obey she could easily put me in exile or execution," Shinri tried to pull her arm away. He wouldn't let her.

"Do you want to leave your house? Knowing that you'll never come back?"

"What're you talking about? I don't want to leave my house, I want to stay here."

"Then stay," Bankotsu convinced her. She stopped struggling from his grip. Shinri turned around to stare at the ground.

"Didn't you just hear me?" She muttered.

"Relax, Shinri-San! We're here aren't we?" Jakotsu called out form the porch.

"If they hurt you again…" Bankotsu started out as a threat, he looked away, flushed. The girl, no taller than his shoulders, looked up to him with tears of happiness and a small smile. "What's wrong? What'd I do?"

"You didn't do anything wrong," she looked up at him and frowned, worried that she had made him angry.

"Yes I did. What did I say? Was it-"

"You didn't do anything wrong."

"Tell me. What'd I do?" Bankotsu gripped her arm. She loosened his grip by wriggling her arm around.

"You didn't do anything wrong."

"Then what did I do?" He asked persistently. She shook her head and turned around to look him in the eye.

"Nothing," she smiled.

"Hey, don't lie!" Bankotsu said, smacking her on the head.

"Ow... I'm not," Shinri whined a bit and rubbed in off. She then walked over to Ginkotsu. She and Renkotsu talked for awhile as Bankotsu blushed from what she happened.

"What's this? Are you guys now a couple?" Jakotsu yelled out, laughing. Renkotsu watched them and just enjoyed the fact that Bankotsu wasn't on his back. Bankotsu turned red. Shinri heard this as well and blushed too.

"Huh? NO!" he yelled at them.

"Then what just a happened? Wasn't that a lovers' quarrel? Were you worried about how you looked in front of Shin-?" Jakotsu was interrupted when he found it was covered by Bankotsu's hand.

"Heh- that should keep him quiet," he said as he kept his hand there. He always had to wonder, why does Jakotsu do that to hem? He shrugged and looked up at Shinri who was looking down, covering her blush. "Anou, just ignore him!"

"Hai!" she smiled and talked to, or tried to talk to Ginkotsu.

Jakotsu watched his brother stare at Shinri as she was conversing a light conversation with Renkotsu. Wanting to talk, he parted his mouth and licked Bankotsu's palm as his hand was still covering his mouth.

"Gross!" Bankotsu shrieked. He wiped the spit on to Jakotsu's shirt.

"Nani?" Jakotsu grinned.

"Don't say it so loud, baka!" Bankotsu whispered roughly to Jakotsu. He just giggled.

"You can't deny it," Jakotsu said as he smiled at Bankotsu. Bankotsu pushed him away and turned around to ignore his teases. Several minutes passed by as they all conversed until Shinri ran up her porch steps and stood on one step below where Bankotsu was sitting.

"Huh?"

"Can we take a walk? Or go to the village?" Shinri asked.

"Why do you want to?" Bankotsu asked, looking up. His chin rested on his palm as the arm he was resting on had its elbow on his left knee. His legs were crissed-crossed and his right hand was sitting on his hip. Shinri just stared up at the sky.

"Do I actually need a reason? Besides it's a nice day! Let's take a walk," Shinri looked back down to him and smiled. Bankotsu just stared at her until Jakotsu pushed him from behind his back.

"Uh-" Bankotsu tried to agree, but found himself to be too shy to.

"Jakotsu would you like to come too?" Shinri asked. He suddenly found his opportunity to be with her alone down the drain just when he gathered his courage to be with a woman.

"Hai," Jakotsu smiled. He then laughed and started his way down the road. Shinri followed as they invited Renkotsu and Ginkotsu. They declined. Then the two made their way fairly down the road. Suddenly it hit him like a ton of bricks: Shinri and Jakotsu were walking _together_… and Shinri would be _alone_. And he really didn't _trust_ his brother with Shinri; after all, he did jump in naked with her in the hot springs.

"Ahh…. OI!" Bankotsu called out. Jakotsu grinned while Shinri turned around waved her arm in the air.

"C'mon! Let's go!" She called out. He stumbled from being embarrassed with his Banryuu he retrieved two days before, agreeing with her to take a walk. "Bankotsu?" she asked as she ran over to him. Shinri reached her hand out and grabbed his hand.

"Wha- Huh? No-" He tried to pull his hand away, but she ended up pulling his hand instead. Tugging at his hand, she pulled him along and ran towards Jakotsu. She stopped by his side.

"Let's go!" she exclaimed happily. They all started walking together towards the village. Bankotsu kept quiet as Jakotsu and Shinri talked together. The afternoon sun seemed to make Shinri's fears of her aunt go away, made a happy Jakotsu seem happier and just made Bankotsu quieter. He lifted his hand and covered the sun from out of his eyes and wiped the sweat off of his brow. Shinri walked under the shading trees and Jakotsu in the middle between them.

"Shi-Chan! I feel I will meet InuYasha very soon. Hehe- he's too cute," he muttered.

"What'll you do if you do meet him again?" she asked with a smile. By this time, she figured out he was gay, but he was too funny when he was. She never was really bothered by it. Jakotsu shrugged.

"Kill him. I'll be the first," he giggled again.

"Eh?" she pondered.

"Hehehehhh--- he means he wants to marry him," Bankotsu interrupted. He looked up to the sounds of distant yells.

"InuYasha! SIT!" a female's voice was heard by them.

"Ahh.. InuYasha…" Jakotsu seemed to daydream until suddenly interrupted by a push from Bankotsu into a bush. He was utterly confused and responded to Bankotsu's actions with, "Nani?"

"Get in there!" he scowled and pushed Jakotsu back down. But he always seemed to pop back up. Instead, Bankotsu grabbed Jakotsu by the collar and pulled him down with him. Shinri was confused as she just stood there when she saw a few people walk towards her.

"HEY!! WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR!?" a boy in his mid-teens yelled at a girl with black hair.

"Shikon Shards," she said. Shinri watched them stand there, looking at the bush.

"INUYASHA!" Jakotsu jumped out and ran towards Shinri. Bankotsu jumped out and tried to grab him, but failed as he stumbled next to Shinri.

"Nani?" InuYasha asked. He looked at the person who called his name. InuYasha already knew who Bankotsu was already after meeting him two days ago. But he didn't know who that girl was or the other guy was. He looked familiar but at the same time he couldn't recognize him. But he did recognize the smell… "The Shichinintai!"

"Who's that?" Kagome asked, pointing at Jakotsu. Right then and there, Kagome and Sango had the same thing in mind.

"He's handsome," they said in unison. Both InuYasha and Miroku twitched their eyes and stared back at him.

"You don't recognize me, InuYasha?" Jakotsu asked, tearfully. "It's me, Jakotsu!" And all of a sudden Kagome and Sango had their bubbles popped.

"Isn't he the guy who loves you but wants to kill you?" Miroku asked.

"InuYasha!" Jakotsu smiled but then an evil glare flickered in his eye as he reached for his sword. He struck it once at them until InuYasha pulled out his Tessaiga and was about to attack them until Kagome stopped him. "I'll be the first to kill you!"

"Wait! What if they're holding the girl hostage?" Kagome asked. InuYasha looked at them.

Bankotsu just happened to over hear them and put his arm around her shoulders.

He put his faceclose to hers. Shinri blushed and was about to hit him until he spoke up.

"That's right," he told them. "If you don't do what I ask, then I'll kill her." Shinri had a blush creep on her face as wrapped his arm around her waist but stopped blushing as he pulled his Banryuu and put it to her throat.

"What're we going to do, InuYasha?" Kagome asked him.

"Feh!" InuYasha spat, "Well what do you think I'm going to do? Let her be killed by him?"

"Heheheh," Bankotsu grinned.

"Kaze No Kizu!" InuYasha aimed at Bankotsu, but Bankotsu jumped out of the way and while he was in the air, the half dog-demon jumped at them and pulled Shinri out of his grasp and jumped back to the group with Shinri in his arms. After setting her down he went back to fight Bankotsu.

"Why don't I have all the fun?" Jakotsu whined. Bankotsu smiled.

"You can have fun later," Bankotsu promised Jakotsu. He smiled again and continued fighting.

Bankotsu knocked the Tessaiga out of InuYasha's hands and had a hand-to-hand combat with him. After sending a blow to InuYasha, he heard someone call his name.

"BanBan-kun! DON'T **HURT** OR **_KILL_** HIM!" It was Shinri.

"Huh? Ban-Ban-kun?" he whispered slightly. Bankotsu got knocked in the head by InuYasha's fist and sent him in the air. His head hit a tree and he was knocked unconscious. "AUGH-"

"Bankotsu!" Shinri and Jakotsu got up and ran to Bankotsu. But without realizing it, InuYasha punched and knocked Jakotsu unconscious to the next tree.

Shinri looked around her. Her two friends were _unconscious_. How did that happen again?

"Jakotsu?" She ran over to him as well. This made InuYasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku and Shippo wonder what really was going on.

"What? Hey, Kagome, why is she trying to help him?" InuYasha asked. Kagome looked back at him. "And I thought she was a hostage."

"I don't really know," she answered back.

"InuYasha, let me step up, and comfort this beautiful young lady," Miroku said as his hands were outstretched, twitching, eyes closed, eyebrows concentrated down and a grin on his face.

"You pervert!" Sango commented as she slapped Miroku. InuYasha had a twitching eyebrow and Kagome just stared at Bankotsu and Shinri.

'She's trying to help the leader of the Shichinintai,' she told herself.

"Hey!" Shinri called over to them. They all looked over to her. She pointed at the half dog demon. "Why'd you hurt him like that?"

"Huh? Me?" InuYasha asked, pointing at himself. Kagome, Shippo, Miroku and Sango looked up at him as well.

"Well duh, who else?" Kagome asked.

"And why'd you even fight with them?" Shinri asked.

"Hey! It's not my fault! I thought I saved you from the bad guys—huh?" InuYasha said as he witnessed the girl pull over Bankotsu and Jakotsu to the side of the road. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What do you think she's doing? She's trying to get him up and going again," Kagome told him.

"Feh! Who'd want to help guys like that?" InuYasha argued back. Kagome sighed and stared at him.

"I'm very sorry for what happened," Miroku said walking next to Shinri and kneeling next to her. She looked up and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess," she shrugged as she wiped the blood and sweat off of Bankotsu's face. "Tjhank you for your concern?" She was quite confused by his actions.

"Miss, would you like to bear my child?" Miroku asked her. Shinri's eye became wide. "I see that you're a very kind person. With your attributes and our looks, wouldn't we bear a _perfect_ child?"

"Huh? … Um-Um—Sorry! I don't really want to get into anything right now, I think," Shinri told him waving her hands around.

"Here he goes again," Shippo muttered. The others agreed.

"After being alone you have no where else to go, so why not…" Miroku paused for dramatic effect and stretched out his hand to grope her bottom. But, unfortunately, he was kneeling by Bankotsu's arm and when his hand tried to reach for Shinri, Bankotsu's hand shot up and grabbed Miroku's wrist inches away from her bottom. "Huh?"

"Don't even try touching her," Bankotsu said, still lying down. His eyes were closed but his lips were moving. He tightened his grip on Miroku's wrist. "Or I'll kill you." He let go and avoided killing him just for Shinri's sake.

"Bankotsu!" Shinri smiled in excitement and jumped on to him, giving him a hug. "How's your head? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Bankotsu smirked back at her. He turned around to look for Jakotsu. "What the-"

"Heheheh," Shinri nervously laughed. 'Please don't kill them,' she thought.

"What happened to him?" Bankotsu asked.

"Well- you know. When… two people love each other... I mean when there's one sided love, that person who loves ends up knocked in the head…?" Shinri asked, confusing herself.

"Huh. Typical. Let's go back to the house, Shinri," Bankotsu said, picking up Jakotsu. 'Augh... my head hurts.'

"Hai!" she smiled, following his command.

"Keh!" InuYasha called out after watching this. "What's going on?" Kagome tugged at his sleeve.

"I think… they… are lovers," she told him, out loud. Right then and there, Shinri and Bankotsu stopped in their tracks, unable to move, unable to speak, unable to fight back---

"Scratch that..." Kagome said after witnessing thier freeze-still.

"Hey! Who told you we're lovers?!" Bankotsu yelled out, pointing his Banryuu to Kagome. She saw that he always eased up when he was next to Shinri; that he was always avoiding murder and taking the easy way out of battles.

"Well, take a look at yourselves," Kagome said, "She treats you with concern… and you listen to her too." Bankotsu blushed.

"We're friends! Aheheh," Shinri confessed, blushing uncontrollably as well.

"Hey! Who cares if they're lovers or not!? I wanna know why she's following him around like some slave!"

"I don't think she's a slave," Miroku said. "She's a young maiden who's very lonely and needs company." He said out loud. Miroku turned his attention to Shinri, walked up to her and closed both of her hands in his palms. "Please allow me to accompany you for awhile and cure you of your loneliness."

"Eh? Um..." Shinri didn't know what to do. Her face grew warm and unfortunately for him, Bankotsu noticed this with eyebrows twitching.

"Oi! Let go of her hand or I'll cut them off so you'll never get to use them again!" Bankotsu said aggressively. He stepped in between Miroku and Shinri and guarded her.

"Um," Shinri began, "W-Wo-Would- y-you li-like to come with u-u-us to-to-to-m-my house? You can eat dinner and um.. um...stay for the night if you have no where else to go," She looked down at her shifting feet, shy and blushing. All of a sudden a fist came down on her head as it sent her on her knees.

Silence fell upon them as Kagome, InuYasha, Miroku, Sango and Shippo stared with sweat drops.

"Why are you asking them that? …When they tried to kill us, huh?" Bankotsu asked. Shinri just covered the bump on her head with her fingers.

"OOOOOOWWWW!!!" Shinri complained. "That was harder than last time. Itai…"

"Well?"

"Oh um- They tried to save me. And even if someone else was taking me as hostage than they would've saved me there too! Hehe," she giggled hesitantly, scratching the back of her head. Bankotsu was taken back.

"Huh. Just like you, right?" Bankotsu reached of the top of her head and patted it as she blushed and closed her eyes and smiled.

"She's like a .. pet," Sango said. Everyone nodded.

'I like the feeling when he pats my head. He's so gentle to me…' she thought through a small smile. She opened her eyes again and gestured Kagome to come along with them.

Walking along through the cherry blossoms, Kagome and InuYasha kept quiet as did everyone else.

"How do we know you're not going to kill us when we're all sleeping huh?" InuYasha spat at Bankotsu and Shinri. By this time Kagome had grown frustrated that InuYasha always questioned the people who invited them to stay at their place.

"Sit, boy!" Kagome screamed out.

"Why do you keep doing that?" InuYasha fought back with her after getting up.

"Just leave them alone, it's not like _she's_ going to kill us."

"How would you know? We got a girl who we don't even know hanging around a guy who kills for a living! He probably rubbed off on her." He frowned and crossed his arms while walking with them none-the-less.

While InuYasha was saying that, Shinri's bangs began to shadow her eyes as her head bent lower and lower. Bankotsu noticed this and tried to comfort her but was too shy to. After a few more strolls, they reached their destination.

"Oh? They're gone?" Shinri asked, referring to Ginkotsu and Renkotsu.

"Ah- Again…? They'll be back later," Bankotsu said with Jakotsu over his shoulder. All of a sudden, Shinri blushed, looking at her house.

"Gomen-nasai. My house isn't very big," she apologized, scratching the back of her head.

"You got that right," InuYasha said as he looked at it.

"But it'll do for tonight," Miroku said, as if apologizing for what his comrade had commented. They all walked in her house and set down their things.

"Wow, it feels so nice to put my backpack down for once," Kagome sighed.

"Shinri-san," Bankotsu called out as he put down Jakotsu on one of the beds.

"Hai!" She responded.

"Why don't you go get food?"

"Ok!" Shinri happily responded as she glided through the doors. When she did go down the steps, she saw Ginkotsu and Renkotsu, and waved at them. She turned around to face the house and yelled out to Bankotsu, "They're back!"

"Didn't I tell you?" Bankotsu grinned at her. Shinri smiled back at him and started off to find food.

"Can I come with you?" Kagome asked. Sango also helped out.

"Thank you," she smiled at them too. They all started for the village and when they got there, they bought a few fishes, rice and vegetables. On their way back, Kagome asked Shinri a few questions.

"Hey Shinri," Kagome asked.

"Huh?" Shinri asked, she turned to her with a basket full of fish.

"Do you have a crush on Bankotsu?"

"A crush?" the girl with the fish didn't know what that was.

"You know. When you start to like someone?" Kagome asked. Sango just stood there, letting Shinri guess on her own.

"You mean if I like Bankotsu?" Shinri asked. She blushed and suddenly found the fish _so _interesting. "Um-Uh... Um... No…. I don't think so."

"Do you love him?" Kagome asked. Shinri stopped where she stood.

She didn't really know. She was only 16, how was she suppose to know what love was? What was love anyway?

As she looked up at them with a heavy blush, covering her whole body, she shrugged and walked ahead of them so they couldn't read the expression on her face.

Shinri wouldn't admit that she realized that when she thought about Bankotsu, her heart would feel lighter than anything else. And when she looked into his eyes, she felt, maybe they were made for each other. But if only… he didn't kill her father. Even if she forgave him for that, she couldn't trust him. Why though…?

_It's because he killed the only person who treated her with unconditional love. _

Why did she feel that she wanted to hate Bankotsu even more every time her thoughts of her father came into mind? Why did it feel that her heart hurt and was tearing in two when she felt that she had to choose between her father and Bankotsu? Why did she even choose Bankotsu over her father?

Shinri thought, 'Did she really hate him?'

_Yes._

Why?

_Don't know._

She pondered this until a voice whispered in her head. Shinri tried to shake it out of her head but it got louder and louder.

_'You-'_

No.

_'Love-'_

Stop.

_'Bankotsu.'_

That wasn't true was it? No, it wasn't, she tried to convince herself. But the voice, now screaming inside her head yelled louder and repeated itself.

_'You love Bankotsu.' _


End file.
